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THE SO-CALLED KIEV DEMOCRATS ARE NOT ANGELS

Submitted by christian on Thu, 03/06/2014 - 13:11

In the eyes of many ethnic Russians, it is the Ukrainian nationalists who are the Nazis. The Russians have asserted quite accurately, that the revolution that overthrew a pro-Russian, democratically elected leader has resulted in the elevation of Russophobe fascists into key government positions. For example, the new secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council is Andriy Parububiy. He was appointed after leading the anti-government riots. In 1991, he co-founded the neo-Nazi Social-National Party of Ukraine (SNPU) together with Oleh Tyahnybok.

EUROPE'S ROLE IN A TIME OF CHANGE

Submitted by christian on Wed, 03/05/2014 - 17:08

Here after are extracts of the Speech delivered by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov at the Royal Institute for International Relations in Brussels on 15 October 2013

This speech sets forth the vision of Russian foreign policy and makes for interesting reading in the midst of the Ukraine crisis and the emerging 'cold war thinking' that seems to prevail in some quarters.

FROM AN INITIAL 610 MILLION EUROS OFFER TO AN 11 BILLION EUROS PACKAGE FOR UKRAINE

Submitted by christian on Wed, 03/05/2014 - 14:26

The demonstrations in Kiev began on the night of 21 November 2013, when protests erupted after the Ukrainian governmernt suspended preparations for signing an Association Agreement and a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union in order to seek closer economic relations with Russia. The president has asked for 20 billion USD in loans and aid. The EU was willing to offer 610 million euros in loans, while Russia was willing to offer 15 billion USD in loans. Russia also offered Ukraine cheaper gas prices.

LOBBYING AGAINST SANCTIONS VIS-A-VIS RUSSIA

Submitted by christian on Wed, 03/05/2014 - 12:49

The European Union should not match the United States in threatening sanctions against Russia. Russia is the EU's most important trading partner after the United States and China , with 123 billion euros of goods exported there in 2012. It is also the EU's most important single supplier of energy products, accounting for more than a quarter of all EU consumption of oil and gas. If the EU were to move with any punitive actions like sanctions, it is important to consider what it would take to reverse any of them down the road.

WHY EU SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA DON’T MAKE SENSE

Submitted by christian on Wed, 03/05/2014 - 10:24

Russia is the 3rd largest trading partner of the EU and the EU ranks as Russia's number one trading partner, accounting for almost 41% of all trade. Europe needs Russia’s gas, and Russia is a major market for EU-based companies that supply the bulk of Russia’s imports.

Here below is the situation for some key EU Member States:

THE UKRAINE CRISIS COULD HAVE BEEN WHOLLY AVOIDED

Submitted by christian on Tue, 03/04/2014 - 19:05

As divisions deepen between the eastern and western regions of Ukraine, the backers of the putsch regime in Kiev portray Russia as a reckless aggressor to absolve their own responsibility for engineering the crisis.

POLLWATCH2014 FORECAST FOR MAY 2014 EP ELECTIONS

Submitted by christian on Sat, 03/01/2014 - 11:22

Predictions 19 February 2014

Financed by the European Parliament, the Open Society Foundations, Burson-Marsteller and VoteWatch CIC

S& D: 221 Members 29.4% of total
EPP: 202 Members 26.9% of total
NI: 92 Members 12.3% of total
ALDE: 64 Members 8.5% of total
GUE/NGL: 56 Members 7.5% of total
G/EFA: 44 Members 5.9% of total
ECR: 30 Members 5.6% of total
EFD: 30 Members 4.0% of total

Total: 751 Members

NEW APPOINTMENTS IN BRUSSELS

Submitted by christian on Fri, 02/28/2014 - 17:49

Ms. Monique Pariat and Mr. Mihael Dumitru have been appointed by the European Commission as Deputy Directors-General in the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development.
Mr. Declan Costello has been appointed as Director of Economics of the Member States I in the Economic and Financial Affairs Directorate-General (ECOFIN)
The European Commission has appointed three new members of the Scientific Council, the governing body of the European Research Council (ERC).

TOP 100 EUROPEAN PR AGENCIES

Submitted by christian on Tue, 02/25/2014 - 19:31

The list here below is derived from Holmes’ World PR Report covering 250 agencies. The ranking is based on Revenues. Revenue numbers for many agencies include subsidiaries—including research, advertising, and specialist PR firms—many of which operate under separate brands but nevertheless report into the listed PR agency. The ranking of the company corresponds to the ranking among the top 250.

THE EUROPEAN PUBLIC AFFAIRS AWARDS (EPA AWARDS): PEER DRIVEN OR GOOD OLE BOYS CLUB ?

Submitted by christian on Tue, 02/25/2014 - 15:08

Now in its sixth year, the European Public Affairs Awards (EPA Awards) sets to unite the Public Affairs community to celebrate excellence and best practice across the industry. Three Associations essentially determine the Award (EPACA, SEAP and ECPA) and all three are interrelated to a greater extent. There are 8 categories that are considered: